If only…

The taste of tomorrow might be the most bitter of all for Cal Poly football fans.

For three and a half months, the rhythm of weekly games, planning for Saturdays, and getting to the Spanos tailgate early have been the metronomes for lives of the Mustang faithful. Researching opponents, talking trash, and pregame tri-tip have become a part of daily life. And, like all seasons, this too must end.

A week off before the playoff game with Sam Houston State created a buildup to an exciting playoff game. On Fansmanship.com, we had lots of coverage, especially on our podcast. Guests ranged from J.D. Scroggin from the Tribune to Tim Jeske from Katfans.com. I added Sam Houston State twitter feeds to my own. The buildup was almost as fun as the game itself.

Unfortunately for those on the Central Coast, the game was one the Mustangs couldn’t manage to win. The taste of defeat after coming so close was bittersweet. Cal Poly fans were generally appreciative of the successful season, choosing to look on the bright side and not dwell on what could have been.

That was last week.

This morning I woke up to tweets, remnants from the new “follows” of last week. They said things like “Go BearKats” and “Big Game tomorrow.” Pictures of babies in Sam Houston State colors brought back an icy reminder that it could have been Cal Poly. A break here. A turnover there. We could have been in Montana this weekend. Running the triple option in the snow. It’s enough to drive a person insane.

[tweet https://twitter.com/brelj1/status/277097419160834048]

[tweet https://twitter.com/KatFansDotCom/status/277059473674227712]

The game even got some Dan Patrick Show love…

[tweet https://twitter.com/PaulPabst/status/276840685288710145]

Today and tomorrow, I would argue, will be tougher on die-hard Cal Poly fans than any day last week. At least there was something to talk about then.

Instead of a playoff football game in Montana, football fans will be quieted. The big sporting event on-campus is a basketball game at home vs. Menlo College Mighty Oaks. And while the basketball team has made its mark already this season, even Joe Callero would concede, things just don’t ever buzz like when you have a football team in the playoffs…

Next year.

This week’s edition of the Fansmanship.com podcast might be our longest, but perhaps the most timely as well.

Cal Poly’s Chris Eversley and the rest of the Mustangs fought back from an 18-point second-half deficit at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday night. By Will Parris

We have two guests on this episode. First, I talked to Tim Jeske from Katfans.com, a Sam Houston State fan forum. Jeske and I discussed the upcoming FCS playoff game bewteen Cal Poly and Sam Houston State, where each team has the advantage, and what the atmosphere is Huntsville, TX is like.

The second guest on the podcast was Tribune college beat writer J.D. Scroggin. J.D. and I talked about Joe Callero’s Cal Poly basketball team’s improbable upset of #11 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday night. We also discussed Saturday’s FCS playoff game, this time from a SLO perspective.

Pretty much this podcast is a Cal Poly extravaganza. If you are a Cal Poly football and basketball fan, you REALLY need to listen to this podcast.

Also, follow us on twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Thanks and enjoy!

O

Tom Barket joined the Fansmanship.com Podcast this week.

On this week’s Fansmanship.com podcast, I interviewed two people who cover Cal Poly Athletics. First, I sat with Tom Barket before the Mustangs’ men’s basketball team lost to Fresno State Monday night 76-67. Barket talked about his local roots, when he knew he wanted to do sports radio, and life on the road as the voice of the Mustangs.

In the second segment, I talked to Katie Ryan. Ryan is the founder and author of the Line of Scrimmage, billed as “The Official Cal Poly Football Blog.” Ryan talked about her roots growing up around college sports, especially football in southern California. Ryan is often up and watching the team during their early-morning practices and even has class with some of the players, so her viewpoint on the team is certainly a unique one.

** One thing I want to clear up: During Ryan’s segment, I said that Sam Houston State hadn’t been out of the state for an away game. I was wrong. I don’t know where I read that, but I was mistaken. They’ve played road games at Northwest State (Natchedochez, Louisiana), at Central Arkansas (Conway, AR), Nicholls State (Thibodaux, LA).

The total driving mileage for out-of-state games is 934 miles one-way (I think…). The drive from Cal Poly to Grand Forks, North Dakota alone is more than double that at 1,994 miles (according to Google Maps). Not that Cal Poly drove to North Dakota, but I’m making a point.

That doesn’t include trips to Laramie, WY, Odgen, UT (Weber State), Cheney, WA (Eastern Washington) or Flagstaff, AZ (Northern Arizona). Five of Cal Poly’s away games were in different time zones and the distance traveled for each of them is greater than Sam Houston State’s longest road trip — 407 miles to Central Arkansas.  I think the point that Cal Poly is pretty road-tested is a fair one.

OK, now that you’ve read that, listen to the podcast.

Katie Ryan is the founder of The Line of Scrimmage Blog.

This morning, the Cal Poly football team learned their postseason fate. And it will take them ::clap clap clap clap:: deep in the heart of Texas.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9YNy_v3_sQ

Cal Poly defensive lineman Sullivan Grosz had 6 tackles including 1.5 sacks on Saturday in Flagstaff. He and the Mustangs should be fresh for their matchup with Sam Houston State in two weeks. By Owen Main

The Good:

In their first season in the Big Sky Conference, a share of the conference title got Cal Poly through into the second round of play, giving them two weeks to prepare and get healthy. This should especially benefit the offensive line.

The Bad:

No home game. Cal Poly’s second-round game will be played in Huntsville, TX vs. the Sam Houston State Bearkats. While the Mustangs are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2008, Alex G. Spanos Stadium is due to stay quiet for the rest of the season, barring a monumental upset. Huntsville, TX is about 75 minutes North of Houston.

Good thing Cal Poly won:

Cal Poly wrapped up its regular season schedule yesterday with a solid victory at Northern Arizona. There was talk of the Lumberjacks getting an at-large bid as well, but it looks like that didn’t happen, despite the Big Sky’s lobbying.

Who are they playing?

Sam Houston State has three losses on the year – 2 of them to Big-12 and SEC schools. The Bearkats actually started the season 1-2. They were downed by Baylor early in the season and then lost at Central Arkansas the following week. After reeling off seven consecutive wins, they lost to 9th ranked Texas A&M and Heisman hopeful Johnny Manziel this past week by a respectable score of 47-28. In the Sagarin Rankings, Sam Houston State is slotted at number 6, with Cal Poly right behind them in 7th.